Moscow - 2007-12-07 - On December 7, the commemoration day of St. Catherine the Great Martyr, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church celebrated the Divine Liturgy and prayer service in the Church of St Catherine the Great Martyr in-the-Fields – the representation of the Orthodox Church in America at the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.

Concelebrating with His Holiness were Bishop Alexander of Dmitrov, Bishop Zosima of Yakutsk and Lensk and the rector of the Church of St Catherine archimandrite Zacchaeus (Wood), representative of the OCA.

Attending the service were the Ambassador of the USA in the Russian Federation William Burns, representative if the Holy See in the RF archbishop Antonio Mennini, chairman of the RF State Duma Committee on public associations and religious organizations S. Popov, participants in the ' St Innocent (Veniaminov) and Orthodoxy in Siberia and America' international conference, and many others.

After the service archimandrite Zacchaeus addressed His Holiness the Patriarch with the words of welcome, thanked him for his visit to the church on the dedication day and told him about the restoration works.

The rector presented His Holiness with the icon of St Catherine the Great Martyr and St Alexis of Moscow and St Herman of Alaska, the heavenly patrons of the Primates of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church in America.

The Ambassador of the United States of America in the Russian Federation William Burns in his speech that the Russian Orthodox Church had begun its missionary and educatory activities in America long before the diplomatic relations between the two countries were established.

His Holiness Patriarch Alexy congratulated the worshippers with the dedication day of the representation church of the Orthodox Church in America and said that the church fulfils an important mission of bringing our people and states closer together.

His Holiness reminded those present that this year marks the 200th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and the USA. He underscored: We celebrate this event as a joyous and radiant one as stability in the modern world largely depends on the relations between our countries.

'We are celebrating the 210th anniversary of St Innocent, Metropolitan of Moscow. I visited Alaska in 1993 on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Orthodoxy there and saw with my own eyes that people in America honour the memory of St Innocent. The house of the first Orthodox bishop in America houses his museum and all objects he touched during his lifetime are revered as treasures. This testifies to the spiritual bonds between our people, and these bonds should be strengthened,' His Holiness said.

Source: mospat.ru